decline of Federalist strength. The Democrats achieved a
majority in the General Assembly as a result of the 1819 fall election,
even though the Federalists had a slim majority in the Senate. The Governor
and his Council were, at this time, elected by a joint vote of the Senate
and the House of Delegates (direct popular election of the Governor did
not come about until 1838). The newly- elected Democratic majority nominated
politically unknown Samuel Sprigg to oppose incumbent (Federalist) governor
Charles Goldsborough. One might wonder how the members of the Assembly
came up with Samuel Sprigg, who had never served as one of their number.
But his name was certainly known through the prominence and service of
his recently deceased uncle Osborn Sprigg, a man who had served not only
as a member of the House of Delegates under Maryland’s first constitution,
but also as a member of the Convention which ratified the Constitution
of the United States. Samuel Sprigg was popular among his contemporaries
in Prince George’s County, he was well-known to such influential individuals
as former speaker of the House John C. Herbert, he had no political reputation
to live down, and was probably considered by the Democrats who nominated
him to be cooperative and capable of guiding the reforms which they promoted.
His name was put into nomination in the Assembly 13 December 1819, and
he received 49 votes as opposed to 36 for Goldsborough. His election must
have been something of a surprise to Samuel Sprigg. A joint letter from
the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House was forwarded
“by express immediately to inform him of his election and request his attendance
at the Seat of Government”. Five days later, on the 18th, the Maryland
Republican (a newspaper published in Annapolis) reported that “the
Governor-elect has not yet arrived at the seat of Government; he is daily
expected”. Samuel Sprigg arrived in Annapolis on the 20th. On that day,
he qualified for office in the Senate Chamber in the presence of both Houses,
by subscribing a declaration of his belief in the Christian religion, by
taking the several oaths required by the constitution, the oath of office
required by Act of Assembly, and the oath to support the constitution of
the United States.

Sprigg was re-elected for two more one-year terms, the maximum allowable
at that time. He replaced many Federalist officeholders with Democrats,
and his administration was characterized by support for internal improvements;
the chartering of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in 1824 was at least in
part a result of his strong advocacy, although this led to heavy borrowing
of money by the State and the subsequent debt which plagued some of his
successors in office. In 1820 and 1821 he defeated Charles Goldsborough
again for the governor’s office, in 1821 by a margin of 72 to 3. This was
the so-called “era of good feeling”, a “general union of opinion and harmony
of sentiment at home”. At the beginning of his second term, the Niles
Register said that he stood “upon a high and exalted eminence in popular
opinion” and that there was “scarcely a speck of party . . . visible in
his re-election to office”.

In a speech given before the General Assembly just one week before
his first reelection in 1820, Samuel Sprigg stated his strong support for
internal improvements, in particular the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. He
also reported that he had commissioned painter Raphaelle Peale, then visiting
Annapolis, to clean and restore the portrait of George Washington and his
companions-in-arms which was hanging in the State House; and that Peale
had accomplished this for the moderate compensation of twenty dollars.
It was during Raphaelle Peale’s visit to the area at this time that he
also painted the portraits of Samuel Sprigg’s family at Northampton.